A growing demand for information on the human health and environmental effects of materials produced using nanotechnology has led to a new area of investigation known as nanotoxicology. Research in this field has widespread implications in facilitating the medical applications of nanomaterials but also in addressing occupational and environmental toxicity concerns. Improving our understanding of these issues also has broad appeal in the stewardship of nanotechnology and its acceptance by the public. This work represents some of the early research in burgeoning field of nanotoxicology. Using a variety of in vivo and in vitro models, as well as cellular and molecular techniques I first studied a possible role for the novel cytokine endothelial monocyte activating polypeptide-II (EMAP-II) in acute lung inflammation in rats (Chapter 2). This work demonstrated a significant increase in total EMAP-II concentration in lipopolysaccharide inflamed lungs as early as 1h post-treatment (
